عن عبد الله بنِ عمرَ رضي الله عنهما قال: أخَذَ رَسولُ اللهِ ﷺ بمَنْكِبِي، فَقالَ: «كُنْ في الدُّنْيا كَأنَّكَ غَرِيبٌ، أوْ عابِرُ سَبِيلٍ»، وكانَ ابنُ عُمَرَ يقولُ: «إذا أمْسَيْتَ فلا تَنْتَظِرِ الصَّباحَ، وإذا أصْبَحْتَ فلا تَنْتَظِرِ المَساءَ، وخُذْ مِن صِحَّتِكَ لِمَرَضِكَ، ومِنْ حَياتِكَ لِمَوْتِكَ».
‘Abdullāh ibn ‘Umar narrated:
1. God’s Messenger (peace be upon him) held me by the shoulder and said: ‘Be in this world as though you are a stranger
2. or a wayfarer’.
3. Ibn ꜤUmar used to say: ‘At evening do not expect [to live till] morning, and at morning do not expect [to live till] evening.
4. Take from your health for your illness 5. and from your life for your death’.
The hadith encourages disregard of the luxuries of this present life and recommends conducting one’s life in the same way as a stranger who takes only what he needs on his journey.
ꜤAbdullāh ibn ꜤUmar used to admonish people along these lines. He encouraged them not to hope for much in this life and not to give it much importance. He recommended that a person should do good deeds when he is in good health, and before he is overtaken by illness or death.
